{"id":5158,"date":"2022-02-16T17:22:29","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T22:22:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/?p=5158"},"modified":"2022-02-16T17:22:29","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T22:22:29","slug":"love-letter-to-myself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/2022\/02\/16\/love-letter-to-myself\/","title":{"rendered":"Love Letter to Myself"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/anchor.fm\/uri-inside-rec-blog\/episodes\/Love-Letter-to-Myself-e1dsush\"><em>Listen to a reading of the Love Letter to Myself blog<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<p>After celebrating Valentine&#8217;s Day this past Monday, I took some time to self-reflect, and think about what the holiday means to me. We all know the stereotypes &#8211; the flowers, chocolates, teddy bears, and mushy cards about how much someone means to you. Everyone&#8217;s dressed all in pink, and love is in the air.<\/p>\n<p>Even with all the warm and fuzzies, there tends to be a stigma surrounding February 14th, <em>especially<\/em> if you&#8217;re spending it alone. The day can feel isolating, and the last thing you want to do is scroll through social media. It can be incredibly easy to fall into the trap of single sadness.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5209 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/IMG_0316-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Love Letter Madeline\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/IMG_0316-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/IMG_0316.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/>Personally, I disagree with the negativity. This year, I decided to make the day special, and do something nice for myself. In doing so,&nbsp;<span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I bought Taylor Swift&#8217;s &#8220;Lover&#8221; Valentine&#8217;s Day cards, and wrote a love letter to myself.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n<h2>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n<h2><strong>Dear Self,&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tell me why<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Valentine&#8217;s day is on a Monday this year. Feelings I know <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">all too well<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> make me question how I\u2019m going to make it through the day. Unless <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">you are in love<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> there is too much pressure to have found <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the 1<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to spend Valentine\u2019s day with.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5212 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/IMG_0317-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Bed with letter\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/IMG_0317-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/IMG_0317.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/>For some, Valentine&#8217;s day feels like <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>death by a thousand cuts<\/em>.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> If you&#8217;re upset about not having a <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">lover<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">you need to calm down<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is me trying<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">shake it off<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and have <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">the best day<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><em>It\u2019s nice to have a friend<\/em><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Be one to yourself. Take some time to care for yourself today. Buy the latte of your <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">wildest dreams<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Put on your favorite <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">cardigan<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">dress<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, or t-shirt and sneakers so you can go <em>out in <\/em><\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">style<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Spend time catching up with your loved ones. Everything is going to work out.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5211 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/IMG_0318-1-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"Letter of Love\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/IMG_0318-1-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/IMG_0318-1.jpeg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/>I think the times Valentine&#8217;s Day has felt<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> enchanted<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is when I can take the day slow, not rushing to get to any plans. The only thing to <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">change<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> was my perspective.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It is easy to get caught up in needing to find your <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">love story<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. I think the <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">message in the bottle<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> is to give yourself that appreciation. Forgive yourself for whatever you&#8217;re holding onto. <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Long story short, I survived<\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> Valentine&#8217;s day.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>&nbsp;<\/h2>\n<h2><strong>Love, <\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>Yourself<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-5159 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/unnamed-17-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Headshot of Madeline\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/unnamed-17-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1178\/unnamed-17.jpg 360w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><em>Hello there! My name is Madeline Bataille, I\u2019m from Long Valley, New Jersey. I\u2019m a junior Journalism and Spanish major with a minor in Gender and Women&#8217;s Studies. I work as a barista at Fuel Coffee bar in Narragansett. You can also see me on campus in my position as the current Photo Editor of The Good Five Cent Cigar. In my free time I like to thrift, do yoga, and play guitar with some friends. This is my first semester being a part of the Campus Rec marketing team as a blog writer and photographer. I am so excited to share my love of well being through this platform and continue to be a part of the Rhody experience!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Listen to a reading of the Love Letter to Myself blog After celebrating Valentine&#8217;s Day this past Monday, I took some time to self-reflect, and think about what the holiday means to me. We all know the stereotypes &#8211; the flowers, chocolates, teddy bears, and mushy cards about how much someone means to you. Everyone&#8217;s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4096,"featured_media":5209,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spring-2022"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4096"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5158"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5214,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5158\/revisions\/5214"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/inside-rec\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}